Record government oil and gas lease sale reported in New Mexico

Auction records were recently broken in the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s sale of oil and gas leases on government land in the state of New Mexico.

Reports indicated the two-day online auction generated $972.8 million in bonus bids for 142 parcels. The land is in Eddy, Lea and Chaves counties and according to the BLM’s Carlsbad Field Office, the sale broke all records for BLM lease sales nationwide.

The nearly $973 million is three times the $358 million earned by the BLM from all sales across the country last year. It’s also more than two times the BLM’s record year for sale-sale income in2008 when it earned $408.6 million.

The sales also mean good news for state government in New Mexico because the state will receive nearly $467 million.  An estimated 48 percent of the revenue from the auctions goes to the state where the oil and gas activity is reported while the rest goes to the U.S. Treasury.

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said it shows New Mexico’s robust oil and gas development turned the state into a “centerpiece” for what he labeled the country’s “all-of-the-above energy future.”

The auction also saw the highest amount ever bid for a single parcel of land.  A 1,240 acre tract of land in Eddy County, which is in the Permian Basin brought $101.5 million or $81,855 per acre. The previous record was $76.7 million for a single piece of land in 2016.